Unknown area (Air buddies)
by XH1234
Summary: While exploring the Air buddies discover a secret cat group(don't worry this isn't Felidae) who seem really nice. They were driven from the neighbouring town of Oakfield by other cats. They trick the puppies into believing their nice. Meanwhile five other dogs plan a rescue operation with the Buddies parents. One young cat, Phoenix, forms a close friendship with Mudbud.
1. Prologue

_Six year's before Santa buddies_

It was a different night from those which came before. A newspaper flew amongst the leaves; it's bold headline reading " _ **Famous Air bud has five puppies!"**_.

As the hour's leading into the dark night grew near, these empty streets were the origin point of the aggressor's. Soon, the usually dark sky for once differed with the colour of the surface, which was now filled with a red, warm, sickening liquid.

The criminal's alerted pretty much the whole street and all the neighbour's rushed to see what was happening, only to flee to the safety of their home's, upon seeing what they forced themselves to witness.

Boot's splashed in puddles, as the wearer's ran down the street. Police men and veterinarian's rushed past the car park, heading to an alleyway.

The officer's frantic yells haunted the night, as more and more people came out to see.

Heavy rain and thunder, that night, added more fear and panic throughout the town. Normally the attackers hate rain but they didn't let it stand in the way of their battle.

"Bring out the cages!" ordered the chief of police.

"It scratched my eye!" screamed another.

"To your station's!" commanded the mayor "This is what we pay you for! Get our specialists to block the other side of the alley!"

"We do not get paid for this mayhem," whispered one officer.

"Block the other side, now!" repeated the chief. "John, Frederick, fire warning shots! Disperse them!"

"Send this truck out to _Venice_ shelter," commanded the mayor.

"I'll head out now," said the truck driver, shielding himself from the rain by placing his clipboard above his head.

"Take the route via the forest," suggested the mayor. "There's to much traffic because we've blocked the roads near the alleyway, people are getting home from work. They're taking alternate routes, such as the normal way to the shelter."

As all this went on, on a high hill overlooking the town below it, was a dark figure watching, his cape flowing in front of it's mask, hiding it.

More police sirens. This time heading to the woods, stopping next to the crashed truck.

"Who was behind this attack?" asked one police man.

"No evidence of an attack," replied the doctor, examining the man. "The driver has scratches on his face and he appears to have jumped out of the truck before it crashed- nothing serious luckily."

"So where did the scratches come from? Who caused him to lose control?!" demanded the officer.

There was no evidence of an attack. No evidence of an attack by a human, anyway, and again the figure standing on the cliff side watched.

* * *

Present (Santa Buddies)

The Air buddies and their new friend Puppy Paws carefully navigated the magical sled until it landed onto the cold, white surface. Moments later, Santa himself and Santa Paws arrived to congratulate them on saving Christmas. Since all magic at the North Pole had stopped, it was up to the Buddies and Puppy Paws to do the job of flying around the world in one night to deliver presents to all children and animals. Santa rewarded them with matching Santa hats (aside from Rosebud's one which was pink) and the puppies went home to enjoy the rest of their Christmas with their kids, who were missing them deeply.

As Buddha went home he couldn't help but to think of all the strays who didn't have homes. They had given presents to pets around the world but some animals weren't so lucky, they didn't have any homes or owners.

Buddha spotted a small kitten who looked lost and cold as he went home.

"Namaste, little friend and merry Christmas" he greeted her, politely.

"T-thank y-y-you" she shivered.

"Are you lost?" asked the Zen pup.

"I'm a stray I don't have a home to be lost from" she sadly explained.

"Would you like something warm to eat?" he offered.

"Of course! I mean, if that's ok?" she excitedly cried.

Buddha took her to his garden, where it was snowing and told her to wait in the family's warm shed. Moments later, he bought some food from their dinner over to her.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed, before munching it all down.

Buddha felt glad that he had helped her but also felt sad about all the other stray's out there.

* * *

"Phoenix!" a voice called, echoing throughout the trunks several fallen trees. "Phoenix! Where is she? Phoenix, stop fooling around!"

Four orange, spotted, small legs galloped it's way through the snowy forest, without a care in the world.

The legs halted and took a minute to relax.

Phoenix was a young, cocky, mischievous Bengal tiger cat with a pair of green eyes that matched the surroundings of which they would always admire. Her orange, vividly marked coat made her stand out from the others.

She breathed heavily and exhaled, tired after all that running, yet showed no signs of ending her mini adventure. Looking around, she admired the beautiful snow around her.

"Phoenix!" another cat interrupted her thoughts, making her suddenly gasp and open her eyes. She turned to face a black kitten with blue eyes. It was her close friend, Luna. "Remember what the elders said about venturing too far, you don't want to end up lost".

"I know" Phoenix responded gently, running up a tree that had been bent sideways. "But it was early and I thought no one would notice if I just took a quick glance at what's out there- beyond the woods".

"You're lucky no one did" replied Luna, approaching the tilted log. "And what's out there should remain out there, we don't want to invite trouble into our camp".

"There'll be plenty of time for exploring later, right now we should get back" promised Luna.

"Like when?" questioned Phoenix, frustratingly. She was always the mischievous one.

"Phoenix, we won't be here for ever, Abzak knows what he's doing."

"I know, I trust him. We all do. Hey what's that?"

Phoenix rushed over to a tattered page of a newspaper that was caught in between several fallen branches. She kicked aside the branches and began straightening out the paper with her paws, being careful not to rip it further.

"Sports playing dog Air Bud set to play soccer once again" she read aloud.

"A dog playing sports?" gasped Luna. "How?"

"Who dares mention a dog?" an ominous voice demanded. Phoenix and Luna jumped and turned to see Felix, an older, bigger cat.

"I was just reading aloud this paper" apologised Phoenix.

"Well don't. You'll ruin the beautiful scene, created in this magnificent area of the forest, by mentioning the ones who chase us" scolded Felix. "I would say 'I am surprised to see you here at this time' but because it's you, Phoenix, I wouldn't expect anything less. And Luna, the next time you go chasing after her, you too will bear the consequences of defiance."

"S-sorry sir, it's j-just I t-thought- stammered the black cat.

"It was my fault I shouldn't have come when you ordered us not to go here" interrupted the tiger cat.

"A noble gesture" nodded Felix. "Although, in this case, I shall have to ignore this- possibly hundredth- incident as we have exciting news for you, young cat's."

"Is it Abcat!" cried an excited Luna.

"I said it was news not a miracle. It appear as though our great leader, Abzak, has decided to task you with the noble duty of finding and rescuing stray cat's".

Phoenix's eye's burst wide open.

"Seriously? Yes!" cheered the young cat, before trying not to be overcome with too much surprise and nervousness. "I mean, when d-do I begin?"

"You can start tomorrow night" answered Felix.

 _Could this day get any better? Heck, it just started!_ Phoenix tried to remain calm but it was kinda hard when she was being told that she would finally be allowed to do the one thing she longed for more than anything, this time without getting in trouble and, with such a great opportunity, comes an even bigger opportunity: to perhaps see what else is out there, beyond the tree's.

"Congratulations, Phoenix" congratulated Luna. "See I told you something would happen eventually- I just didn't expect it to be five minute's after I said so."

Phoenix looked at the paper again.

"I actually think it would be exciting to meet a dog, maybe a puppy" she admitted.

"Think again, nothing but slobbering mutts who would chase us up a tree if they ever saw us" said Felix. "Now of you pop, it's breakfast time and you both seemed to have skipped it already, you wouldn't want the food to run out."

As the two sprinted back towards the camp, Felix hovered over the ripped newspaper page and, after reading it,instantly ripped it to shreds, completely destroyed by his sharp claws.


	2. Area:Unknown

It was a few days after Santa buddies and the five Air buddies were still excited about this new adventure with Santa Paws. In Buddha's house, Sam had just left for school but the puppy was too tired to get up, instead he lay in his puppy bed for a while before finally deciding to make his way to the park, not wanting to keep his siblings waiting. Mudbud, however, woke up with a different feeling. An ill feeling. He felt cold, he felt weak and his throat was soar. The puppy brushed it off as just a morning thing and ran to the park anyway. Buddha decided to take the short cut through the woods to get to the park quicker however soon he stumbled onto an area he had not seen before. It had huge, tall, thick trees and Buddha thought he could hear unusual cat like noises from them.

"Sorry my timing was not perfect" the Zen pup apologised.

"No problem-o dude" replied Mudbud.

"You guys wont believe the BIG breakfast I had today" the greedy Budderball told them. "I mean I usually always have a big breakfast...

"Fo'shizzle dawg, I remember when Noah gave you a pizza for the first time" giggled B-dawg.

"Hey sis, nice necklace" Buddha complimented his sister who was wearing a new pink necklace.

"Thanks its awesome, Alice chose it for me" thanked Rosebud.

Buddha decided to tell the others what he had heard in the woods. "Hey guys while I was heading here I heard these strange cat noises, like nothing I've ever heard before".

"Where?" asked Budderball.

"In this new area of the woods which we've never seen before" replied Buddha.

"Say if it was a r-r-ritual" gulped B-dawg.

"What?! Where'd you ever get an idea like that from?" asked Rosebud.

"From this movie Billy was watching; the cult sacrificed other cats because they thought they could bring back the dead" explained B-dawg.

Rosebud then had a fun idea. "Hey how about we all go into the woods at night, when are kids are asleep, and see who can stay for the longest".

"But it's dark then" whispered B-dawg.

"Scared of the dark, B-dawg?" she taunted.

"Pshaw dawg! I aint scared of nothin!" the scared pup denied. "I just know that the youngest needs the most sleep".

"It sounds like a fun game and I look forward to participating" said Buddha.

"It's agreed then" coughed Mudbud.

"Mudbud, are you feeling ok?" asked Rosebud, who was always a bit protective over the mischievous second youngest.

"I'm fine" promised Mudbud.

"You don't look fine".

"No worries dudette it was just a sneeze".

"I just need to remember to bring a doggie bag" nodded Budderball.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an alley, four dogs secretly met up at around 8:00 at night. One was Lark, an English Mastiff, who had overheard the Buddies talking about this "new area of the woods". He was joined by a former friend of Air bud, Spot an adult Dalmatian. Spot had spoken to Buddy back in the day but since he had puppies Buddy tried avoiding him, worrying that his friendship with Lark and the cynical hound Syndero would be a negative influence on his pup's. Last was Blaze, who had called them all here, a Labrador retriever who had aspirations to be a great leader.

"New area of the woods? Tall trees?" repeated Spot.

"At least that's what I think I heard" said Lark. "Why are we here anyway?"

"I've called you all here to discuss the strange fire's that I've been seeing coming from the woods" announced Blaze, standing on a high box. "They are no bonfires, or a camp site, I believe that they are something much worse, yet I have not seen one person enter that area".

"Perhaps arson?" suggested Lark.

"You have great listening skills Lark, I literally just said I saw not one person enter".

"Like the enemy cats?" said a voice.

"Exactly- What?" began Blaze. An elderly German Shepherd stepped out of the shadows. "Dennis? What do you mean enemy cats?"

"You all remember the incident in Oakfield when a truck containing lots of cats crashed into the woods and were never seen again?" asked Dennis. The others nodded."Well those cats were rivals with another cat gang in Oakfield and they both had a bloody fight, that forced the mayor to send them all away, when they crashed. Now these cats have learnt to fight and survive in the wild by themselves and they sacrifice other animals to their great dead cat leader, Abcat".

"Wow" began Lark. "I have never heard anything more disturbing and unnatural in all my life!"

"Every word I say is true, except maybe the part about their 'great leader' I'm sure he wasn't all that nice".

"I find this story difficult to believe" said Spot. "How do you know all this?"

"Me and my cat friend, Flame, were walking in the woods one day when they grabbed us, I escaped but Flame wasn't so lucky and if those puppies enter the woods they're doomed" revealed the elderly dog.

"Well one things for sure pets have been disappearing for the past six weeks" noted Blaze.

"Maybe we should follow the pup's so they can lead us to this new area" suggested Spot, who really wanted to keep the Buddies out of danger.

"Those babies probably saw a tall tree and got scared!" laughed Lark. "I haven't had some fun in ages let's do it".

"So you think the disappearance of cats is related to the fires?" asked Blaze.

"Yes, I believe something is out there- attacking nature, and I implore you to watch over the Air buddies as I fear their fate will coincide with the missing cats" urged Dennis. "You must put out the fire before the flames get bigger".

"Literally; like there is literally flames in those woods" added Blaze. "Alright this is our moment, you four have been chosen because, well not because your the best but at least your second best...possibly."

"That's debatable" muttered Lark.

* * *

At night, the Buddies met up outside the woods. "Where's B-dawg?" wondered Buddha.

"I was just...looking for berries you know how hungry Budderball gets" lied the frightened puppy, coming out from the bushes.

"Alright what are the stakes?" asked Rosebud.

"Yum I want stake" drooled Budderball.

"Not that kind of stake, I mean what's the reward for the one that stays the longest?"

"How about last one to run out gets everyone's leftover candy canes from Christmas?" suggested Budderball. The others agreed.

"Remember let's not get too competitive this is just for fun" Buddha reminded them.

The Buddies entered, followed by Blaze's gang. They were joined by the sly, cynical hound Syndero who missed the meeting.

"So what happens to the cats do they kill themselves in this fire?" asked Syndero.

"Ooh so scary" Lark mocked the Buddies.

"Lark that's not funny, remember their just puppies" Spot nudged him.

"Oh right you and Air bud used to know each other" noted Blaze. "Alright let's find these puppies and get to the bottom of the cat-astrophe".

"Boo!" Syndero booed at his bad pun. "I'll stay at the back...in case someone sneaks up on us".

"You mean so you can run out first if something happens" Lark corrected him.


	3. Area:occupied

The Buddies walked through the huge owl began hooting.

"What was that dawgs!" cried B-dawg.

"Dude it was just an owl" stated Mudbud.

"B-dawg your definitely losing this contest" taunted Rosebud.

"Pshaw, how's about you stand aside and let the B take the lead" B-dawg tried acting tough.

"Wait do you guys hear that?" whispered Buddha, his ears perking. "It sounds like...singing".

"Yo I don't know what song their singing but it sounds AWFUL!" exclaimed B-dawg

They spotted bright light from up ahead and went over to see. The pups poked their little heads through the bush and were greeted with a horrific sight. Before them were lots of cats singing about how great cats are and looking up at a big cat who was standing on the top of a crashed truck with a small fire below it. He had scars all over him and was addressing the others, appearing to be their leader.

"We should go" decided Buddha.

"Yeah lets go" B-dawg agreed.

As they turned to leave, they soon realised they were lost.

"Wrong way you twits!" shouted began to rustle.

"You're lost aren't you?" said another voice.

Blaze and the others emerged from the trees. "Nope, see I led us to them".

"Huh Spot what are you doing here?" Rosebud recognized her dad's old friend.

"Oh we thought we would check out this new area as well and we wanted to keep you safe" replied Spot. "Now you shouldn't be here, we've been looking everywhere for you!"

"You were, we weren't " corrected Syndero. "We just came to see this new area".

"Ok,hmm we're officially lost!" declared Lark, looking around.

"Why shouldn't we be here?" questioned Mudbud.

"Why? I'll tell you why, the cats live here!" cried Blaze."Also, I can't be the only one who's noticed that you look like your gonna throw up, that's reason enough".

"So? there are plenty of cats in Fernfield dawgs" said B-dawg.

"These cats aren't from Fernfield!" cried Lark. "There a cult like... bunch of weirdo's!"

"Hmm well I can't recognize this place" sighed Syndero, looking around. "Does anyone know we're the wolves live?"

"No but never fear they don't live around these parts...I think" said Spot.

"Don't worry my nose smells the way home" sniffed Budderball, but all he could smell was apples. "All I smell is apples!"

"No kidding dawg this whole place is full of apple trees!" scolded B-dawg.

He begam attenpting to climb up the apple tree, holding onto the branches, to get some apples.

"Check it Budderball's turned into a monkey" laughed B-dawg.

"Budderball cut it out we need to go now!" demanded Rosebud.

Budderball accidentally broke the branch, making him fall and revealing a scary looking silver cat. It hissed at them, showing it's claws.

"I have a bad feeling about this" said Syndero.

"I have more of a strange feeling" added Budderball. "Probably hunger"

"Who cares, kill it!" yelled Lark, lunging at it. But the cat scratched his paw and escaped. Syndero and Lark gave chase, running over the muddy small hill. "Blaze bring those midgets over here!"

Blaze led the others over the hill where Syndero was staring at a truck that was broken down. It looked similar to the one Grim and Denning used in Air buddies.

"Hide the shrimps in there while we find the right way" suggested Lark.

"Who are you calling names?" snapped Rosebud. The Buddies got into the back seat while Blaze and Spot went in the front. After a while it began to rain; Blaze and the pup's fell asleep; Mudbud was still sneezing and Spot was silently waiting.

"Dawg, you look terrible" noted B-dawg.

"I think I've caught a cold" sniffed Mudbud.

Syndero stopped searching, hearing twigs break. "Lark?" he whispered. The noises got louder and several footsteps were heard. Blaze narrowly opened his eyes and stared out the window. "Maybe it's the truck" he whispered.

"I sense we are not alone" said Buddha, waking up. Suddenly several angry cats began appearing out of the trees, from the bushes and the hill.

"You two get in!" ordered Blaze.

"Are you kidding? A broken car won't stop these monsters I'm running for my life!" screamed Syndero.

"Buddies get behind me!" ordered Spot, leaving the jeep with the Buddies following and hiding behind the Dalmatian. More and more cats appeared, each snarling and getting their claws ready.

"These sacred woods should not be a place where conflict occurs, it has stood on the Earth for centuries" advised Buddha.

"Tell them that!" snapped Syndero, walking back. "Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna abandon you".

"On second thought run for your lives!" shouted Blaze. With that everyone scattered, each running in different directions followed by swarms of cat's. Budderball and Rosebud were cornered near some rocks while B-dawg and Buddha were captured when they reached a shallow river.

* * *

Mudbud returned to the jeep and hid out the storm of cats before exiting. He tried rolling around in some dirt so the cats wouldn't see him, but a Bengal tiger cat found him.

"How dare you disturb us!" she hissed.

"Disturb you in s-sacrificing animals?" stammered Mudbud.

"What? No! We give other cats medicine to keep them safe from the evil cat's from Oakfield that drove us out".

"Why'd they drive you out?"

"When our leader died half of our group turned on us so they could rule the alley; they framed us for a crime and got us sent here" explained the tiger cat.

"That's awful, you shouldn't have been kicked out of your home".

The cat looked at the cute, dirty puppy, sneezing and her voice changed to a concerned one instead of a threatening one. "You look awful!"

"Thanks for noticing" Mudbud sarcastically replied.

"No I mean...you look ill..your face is so pale" she noticed. "You don't seem that bad, come, maybe I can convince Abzak to let your friends go and get you some help".

"Their my family actually, although they are like my friends" Mudbud corrected her. "And I don't want anything to happen to them."

"Right now you need to worry about yourself".

* * *

They headed back to the "camp" when it started raining.

"Can't you hurry up it's raining?" groaned the cat.

"I like the rain it makes everything more muddy" grinned Mudbud.

"Your weird" she narrowed her eyes.

"In case you forgot dudette you were the one who suddenly switched mood's".

"Come again?"

"You were about to capture me but then you suddenly became all nice and offered to help me".

"That's because I saw you were ill and it would be cruel to just a leave a defenceless, sick, lost creature in the middle of the woods without any help" defended the cat. "Even if that creature is a dumb dog".

* * *

Syndero met up with Blaze and Spot over by some rocks, who were reading a sign with black paint that spelt out a warning.

"Dead men tell no tales" Blaze nervously read it. "Heh, nice to see pirate talk is still common. Wonder if it applies to dog's as well".

"Well this was nice, see ya" declared Syndero, preparing to leave but Blaze stopped him.

"Where do you think your going?" he demanded.

"The forest has been invaded by a hundred cat's, who kill themselves,I'm getting outta here!" shouted Syndero.

"We can't just leave!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"We can't just leave those poor puppies out here by themselves- with those evil cat's" stated Spot.

"We can't?" repeated the hound.

"And besides if we save them we'll be treated as hero's and I'll finally get the respect I deserve" Blaze, who always wanted to be treated as a hero.

"Right you go on and do that, but I'd rather stay alive than be a hero" dismissed the hound.


	4. Guide us home

They arrived at the destroyed truck where the other cats were giving Mudbud evil looks.

"Is THAT our lunch? It's filthy!" whispered a Siamese cat.

An older Himalayan cat, Drest, came in front of them. "Phoenix you know better than to bring intruders here" he scolded.

"Sorry, sir, it's just well...this pup is very sick and I figured it was only right that we help this lost one" apologised the tiger cat.

"He does look rather poorly, very well, take him to the truck with the others while we prepare some medicine" allowed Drest.

She led him to another truck which was stuck in a pond. The other Buddies were trapped in the front seat of the truck.

"I've always wondered if i could drive" said Budderball.

"Mudbud thank goodness your ok!" exclaimed Rosebud. "Your looking even more sick".

"It was wrong of us to enter the woods and even more foolish to bring you with us in this state" admitted Buddha.

"Dawg's these cats are gonna s-sacrifice us just like in that movie!" panicked B-dawg.

"Chill dude, these cats don't seem that bad; that female one said she was gonna give me something to make me better" said Mudbud.

"Mudbud's correct, B-dawg, try to calm down" agreed Buddha.

"I hope they give us some food" wished Budderball.

"Shh! I can hear them talking" hissed Rosebud.

A tom and black cat were talking outside the truck.

"What about the grown dogs?" asked the tom cat.

"They fled" replied the black cat. "What did Abzak say about the pup's?"

"He said..." whispered the tom, saying something that made them both laugh.

* * *

After a while, the cat's bought the puppies towards the middle of their camp. Their leader, Abzak the cat they saw earlier standing on top of the truck, came down to see them.

"Greetings I am Abzak leader of the cats of Oakfield and rightful ruler of the alley's of that town" he introduced. The Buddies nervously looked at his scars.

"Hi my names Rosebud" greeted the female puppy, who was more braver than her brother's.

"My names Budderball and this is Buddha, Mudbud and B-dawg" added Budderball.

"What brings you here?" asked the cat leader.

"W-we were just exploring this new area of the woods we had no intention of disrupting your bonfire" apologised Buddha.

"Bonfire? No no no, you see we use the fire to create medicine for us and the other stray's who ask us for help. You see we have been living in these woods for years and so we have been made to create our own means of survival" explained Abzak. "I'm sorry this must be the most unusual thing you small pup's have ever seen".

"Nah we've seen much more unusual things" replied Rosebud.

"It is raining and late, you will not be safe with the wolves out at this time would you like to stay the night here?" offered Abzak.

The tired Buddies agreed and were taken to a tree which had lots of food in a hammock attached to it. Other cats were there to and they didn't seem to happy about having to share their food with dogs. But after Abzak talked to them they all welcomed the puppies.

Abzak went over to the black cat, Gust, and the Himalayan cat, Drest.

"Hmm, maybe Abcat will appreciate dogs keep an eye on them and meet the other leaders in the truck in an hour for a meeting" he ordered.

Budderball began eating the fruit. He didn't like being so high up but he was so hungry he didn't care. "Do you guys have any burgers?" he greedily asked.

"Wow you eat a lot!" exclaimed one cat.

B-dawg was keeping his distance. "What's wrong B-dawg, not hungry?" asked Buddha.

"Yo, did you dawg's forget what Lark told us" stammered B-dawg who still had a bad feeling about these cat's.

"Try to relax, B-dawg, this is a good opportunity to get along with other animals, besides this high tree looks like an excellent place to meditate and be one with nature" advised the Zen pup. Buddha went to one of the top branches and began meditating. Other cats came over to him, intrigued by what he was doing and some even joined him.

One black cat, Midnight, and a slightly lighter cat, Luna, noticed B-dawg keeping his distance and decided to go over to him, as Abzak told them to make the puppies feel welcome.

"Not hungry?" asked Midnight, making B-dawg jump.

"Nah I'm not hungry" he lied. "No offense. I'm sure it tastes nice".

"So...do you like dancing?" she asked.

"Fo'shizzle I'm the best!" boasted B-dawg.

"Would you like to prove it?" Midnight challenged. Luna went over to the destroyed truck and inserted "Years" by Dex Arson into the music player.

"I recognize this tune from a game" realised B-dawg, before he showed of his dance moves to his new "audience" who cheered him on.

Rosebud was telling a group of young cat's about their adventures in Snow and Space buddies. Mudbud spotted an area with a lot of mud and begam rolling in it, trying to ignore his ill feeling. After shaking it all off, Gust came down to him. "So you just wandered in here, willingly, into these woods?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well.. we um..you see" mumbled Mudbud. Phoenix then came over to them.

"Leave him alone Gust, trust me if they were up to something I would've known" she told him. Gust walked away to listen to Rosebud's story.

"Please continue, I did not mean to disturb" he told her.

"So what's your name?" asked Phoenix.

"I'm Mudbud" he answered.

"Hmm I can see why they would call you that" she smirked. "My name's Phoenix, and I can see your still ill. Here, Drest made this medicine for you". She pushed a small wooden bowl with some medicine suitable for animals in. Mudbud slowly drank it. Phoenix looked at him closely.

"Er..what are you doing? " he asked.

"Just seeing if you really are a spy for Oakfield" she replied.

"So what are you dudes and dudettes doing out here?"

"Were waiting for our leader, Abcat, to return to guide us home. We use this medicine to protect ourselves and other strays from diseases, you don't get vets out here. They work to because those cat's are allowed to return home. Once we help enough cats Abcat will return and end these feuds" explained the female cat.

"Wow-za's that sounds like a totally epic movie idea!" exclaimed Mudbud. "But do you ever watch these rituals?"

"No no I'm to young only our elders can watch them" said Phoenix. "Well, nice talking to you". She ran of to join her friends.

* * *

The Buddies regrouped near the outside of the camp.

"These cats are like amazing friends!" cried Rosebud. "Look Luna gave me this flower bow, she's an awesome cat"

"They understood and respected our doggie characteristics" added Buddha.

"The food is delicious!" drooled Budderball.

"I-I'm not so sure about this I think we should leave" said a worried B-dawg.

"Dude, remember the wolves and besides these cats aren't bad, they were driven out of their home by other cats" explained Mudbud.

"That's horrible!" cried Rosebud.

Just then Blaze and the others jumped out from the trees.

"Have no fear Blaze is here" he announced.

"Come on cat's I'll take you all on!" challenged Lark.

"Er I said only do that if you see them their clearly not here so don't alert them to us you fool!" scolded Blaze.

"Guys your just in time the food's almost finished" said Budderball.

"You idiot's were all food!" shouted Syndero.

"Syndero be nice" glared Spot.

"Oh sorry. Please you fools we must go as we are all food" Syndero corrected himself. His new reply wasn't any better though.

"Chillax dudes these cats are nice their not murderers" said Mudbud. The Buddies explained everything the cats had told them.

After Syndero said "Let me get this straight, if they help enough cats with this medicine, randomly and magically out pops their crazy, dead leader. Also they just send the cats they 'cure' home?"

"That's the most insane, stupid and nonsensical thing I've ever heard!" laughed Lark.

"No really, look they gave me this bow" Rosebud showed off.

"I have never seen a more ridiculous looking item on top of anyone's head ever" retorted Lark.

"We've found a path that seems right quickly we must go" said Spot. "Your folks are probably worried sick".

"We have?" asked Syndero.

"I have anyway but don't worry you wont get lost following the fearless Blaze" boasted the Labrador.

"Everyone run for your lives. Yeah so fearless" mocked the English Mastiff, repeating what Blaze screamed earlier.

"Ok let us say goodbye to the cats first" decided Rosebud.

"Talk? Talk to a cat?" questioned Syndero. "You complete weirdo's. Fine, go talk oh and when you get eaten, remember to vouch for us".

Abzak said the Buddies were allowed to visit them again but only if they kept it a secret.


	5. How to hang loose

The next day, the Buddies were feeling really tired, since they were awake for so long yesterday night. So when their owner's left for school, they were to lazy to go to the park. So when Buddy and Molly went to the park they were surprised to see that their pup's werent there.

"Where do you think they are?" asked Buddy.

They didn't tell anyone, as they didn't want anyone to think he was a coward for running from cat's and him and Spot wanted to find out more about the cat's before they decided what to do. Also Spot felt uneasy about talking to Buddy after so long so he didn't tell their parent's. Lark and Syndero just didn't really care if the other's didn't.

"Probably busy, you know they are growing up quickly" guessed Molly.

"Yeah it was only a few days ago when they saved Christmas" chortled Buddy.

Mudbud eventually got up and decided to walk around town, hoping to bump into one of the others. He found B-dawg talking to his "friend", Bell. The Buddies other new friends, Ally and Fragile, moved out of town a few months ago. Budderball was, of course, next to the bakery, waiting to see if anyone dropped any food.

"Hey dude!" greeted Mudbud.

"Oh hi Mudbud, your just in time they've taken out the pastries!" drooled the chubby pup. "That medicine's something all right, your looking much better!" The two then began discussing the cat's. "You think we should go to their party thing or whatever?"

"Totally, it sounds super radical!" replied Mudbud. But lets not go to much in case we get followed, they said they don't want to be discovered".

"I can't believe they were kicked out of their homes. Wonder what they were framed for?" wondered the chubby pup. "We should ask Buddha and Rosebud if they want to go".

"The dudette has already bonded with all the girl cat's" noted Mudbud. He ran of the find them. While he wandering around the park, he saw Phoenix walking along the outskirts of the woods.

"Hey Phoenix" he greeted. "Didn't think I'd see you outside the woods".

"Well usually it's my job to find stray cats but this time I... actually came looking for you, Buddies" she admitted. "When I saw you normal pet's I wanted to see how it's like so I'm ready when I get a home and a human".

"What do you mean 'normal pet's'?" asked the dirty pup.

"You know, you have owners, a house, an easy life we don't have the same luck as you. Our dream is to life like normal cats do. So can you show me how to be a normal pet?"

"No problem-o dudette" accepted Mudbud.

* * *

He took her to his front garden.

"So you know what a mud bath is right? It's an awesome way for a dog to chill" asked Mudbud.

"Right except I'm a cat" she reminded him.

"Oh, right. Well, from what I know, normal cat's pay with yarn ball's"

The two went to Mrs. Niggles, the pet sitter's, house. They looked through the window which was left open because she was making a pie and wanted to let some fresh in the house. "Ok we got to be quiet" Mudbud advised her. The two sneaked in through the window and, although Mudbud's dirty paws left prints, they were very careful not be seen. "Ok here they are, Mrs Niggles yarn balls" Mudbud whispered. Phoenix couldn't help but to start playing with it. However, she ended up throwing them around everywhere, getting them tangled around the chairs, tables and furniture.

"Er dudette, not a good idea" Mudbud nervously told her.

"Sorry it's just so fun!" she cried. She hit a white yarn ball in the air, which reminded Mudbud of volleyball, his favourite sport.

"Yeah...I guess it seems pretty chill" admitted Mudbud, joining in. However, this ended up making a mess of the sitting room. Footsteps were then heard.

"Quick lets scram!" ordered Mudbud. They jumped back out the window just before she came in. She looked around and let out a loud scream. The two young troublemakers quickly ran off. "Wow that's the most fun I've had in ages!" laughed Phoenix. "I hope that old lady's ok".

"She'll be fine, trust me cleaning is all she knows" Mudbud assured her but then got the idea that the cat's didn't have fun like they did. "Wait you guys aren't allowed to hang loose".

"We have serious work to do it's hard trying to prepare each other to get back to Oakfield and for Abcat's return" Phoenix explained.

"Who's that dude again?"

"He was our great leader from when we lived in Oakfield but when he died their was a feud between cat's over territory, you know how cat's are, and they framed Abzak for starting a brawl and him and his followers were supposed to be sent out of state but those same bad cats caused the truck to crash, leaving us stranded here. I was very young when it happened, I don't remember what I saw exactly but all I know is my job" continued the tiger cat.

"Wow-za's I didn't think you had jobs!" exclaimed Mudbud. "So what's yours?"

"My job is to look for stray cat's and bring them back with us so they can have a home in Oakfield once we give them medicine to protect them from any diseases" she replied. "I've taken in a lot".

"That sounds stressful" stated Mudbud, who liked living life stress free. "But that's totally cool of you to help lots of strays find a home".

"Yeah but I just wish I could find one for myself but if I go back without Abcat, they'll just send me right back. Well I probably should be getting home".

"Wait! I think I know one place that might cheer you up" said the dirty pup.

"Really where?"

Buddy and Molly noticed Mudbud was playing with a cat, and were quite surprised.

"Is that Mudbud playing with a cat?" asked Air bud.

"It seems the Buddies have learned to make new friends" guessed Molly, smiling.

But the wise Dennis knew everything the young cat was saying was a lie and that Abzak and his followers were the real villains of the story. Although he was glad that Mudbud was helping Phoenix, he knew that she was being used and tricked by her leader's. But whenever he tried bringing this up to Lark or Syndero, the two dismissed it, showing little interest in this whole "cat cult" thing.

"Who uses fire to make medicine!?" cried Syndero. "Did witches own these cat's or something?"

* * *

"This is just a minor setback" lectured Blaze. "I know morale must be low, what with nothing being solved yet".

"Not really" said Lark.

"Oh are we still doing this?" asked Syndero.

"First the info we got from the Buddies,- these are the same cats that made headlines for getting involved in a massive brawl a while back- and crashed into these woods after being framed. Now the Buddies- a group of five golden retriever siblings related to a dog called Air bud, showing up out of nowhere only to become one of the best-

"We know who he is, Blaze, we all saw his big moment!"

"But I believe as long as you believe in me and what I believe, opposing any incorrect beliefs that others belief that believing in me is wrong, that we shall triumph" continued Blaze. "We'll start by putting our facts together on the cat group and the disappearing cats".

"You don't think they joined their little group?" wondered Spot.

"Hardly, just as I refuse to believe that they send them home, as they told the Buddies, we'll start by searching the alleys- all stray cats hang out there".

"Blaze, sir?" interrupted Lark.

"What is it?"

"Can we at least switch places with you and stand next to the radiator, it's -5 degrees out here"

* * *

At night, Mudbud and Phoenix were outside the Winter fair that would be closing soon. It was dark and scary, yet the fair was bright and the lights were strangely on.

"What are we doing here?" asked Phoenix.

"I think I know one thing that'll make you forget your troubles, the fair" replied Mudbud.

"You mean this place?" asked the amazed cat, staring at all the illuminations beyond the gate. "It looks amazing!"

Mudbud spied a hole in the brick wall surrounding the entrance and crawled in. When he got to the other side he was surprised to see that Phoenix was already there.

"Huh? How'd you get there?" he wondered.

"You know we could've just crawled under" said Phoenix, pointing to the space under the barred gate.

"Oh right...I knew that but it's just that here in the world outside the forest, it's considered rude to crawl under gates" lied Mudbud.

"Yeah, nice try" dismissed the cat.


	6. Anthem of evil

They went inside the hall of mirrors and went to the only room that wasn't locked, the first one. It was surrounded by mirrors in a circular formation around the room.

"Whoa!" commented Phoenix, looking at her weird reflection's.

"I know right, to bad the other rooms are closed" sighed Mudbud, walking closer to see his own reflection.

"Are you sure you want to do that, I would hate for you to get seven years bad luck?" jeered Phoenix.

"Ha-ha" Mudbud pretended to laugh, as he stepped closer.

There was no reflection. There was no nothing. Not even the reflection of the anything in the background, nor Phoenix, was even in the mirror.

"Ha you even scared off your own reflection" giggled the female cat, continuing her taunting.

"That's not normal" muttered Mudbud, suddenly backing away as a gust of wind swept through the open door's and hit against him.

He stepped back, towards Phoenix, as more, heavier gust's of wind smashed through the doors and encircled the room. Those same pair of door's suddenly slammed closed, trapping the wind on the other side, along with the pair.

Before them was no longer simple mirror's. No, it was a petrifying figure that appeared motionlessly in all six of the mirrors spiralling the room. Dark suit; dark helmet; two army-like solider pad's; what looks like a blaster in its' belt and black mist surrounding the figure like a phantom but only it was concealed to the mirror.

"W-what is this?" whispered the fearful Phoenix. "Is this part of the trick?"

"No. I mean, I don't think so" stammered Mudbud, slightly stepping forward and looking up at the figure- well one of them anyway- which in turn looked down at it with its' gloomy, grim, bleak helmet. "W-who are you?"

"You mean what are you?" whispered Phoenix.

The spectre refused to speak, instead letting out a ghastly sound that sent a chills up the two animal's spine's. The sound was so sinister that Death itself would waver from this land and instead seek another, knowing one demon already occupies this one.

"I mean that's cool if you don't want to tell me" stammered Mudbud. "I respect privacy, if you don't want to say your name you don't have too. I mean, I don't want to say my name as well, it sound's weird, 'Mudbud', see."

"Except you kinda just told him" whispered Phoenix, nudging him slightly, indicating they should move. She slowly backed away towards the exit, followed by Mudbud.

Finally, the spirit uttered words that sounded so terrifying that it could perhaps purge every thing good about this fair and turn it into a graveyard.

"PUPPIES! SO YOU ARE PUPPIES!" it spoke. It lunged forward, breaking through the glass barrier and as it did so, all the other mirror's smashed and the glass scattered everywhere, all except for the middle one, where the figure was stepping out off.

Phoenix immediately dashed out the door's, followed by Mudbud, running as fast as their small legs could go.

"You should not have ventured into the town, Phoenix" the voice of the phantom continued plaguing them as they ran, without stopping.

"Phoenix do you know this thing?" asked Mudbud, changing direction and going inside the bumper car arena.

"No I have no idea what's he or its' talking about!" denied the tiger cat, trying to run along the floor, but the graphite on the surface and the metal strip's were making it difficult.

Suddenly, the light's on the front of the bumper car's turned on, trailing them like a pair of eye's.

Breaking free from it's metal power polarity, that would usually keep it attached to the ceiling to allow them to move, the car's began recklessly driving ferociously around the metal surface.

Charging at one another and encircling the two as they tried to escape; these monstrosities had not been switched on. It was almost like they had been possessed.

Phoenix attempted to break for the barrier in front of her, that surrounded the arena but Mudbud quickly pulled her back, as another dodgem soared past, letting out a roar that was as fierce as the wind the car's bought with them as they zoomed past.

Mudbud tried to look for an escape route, however the car's were moving at lightning speed, making it impossible to locate any such route. Adjusting his head slightly, he noticed the dark figure standing in the control booth, watching gravely at the scene which he had created.

"This way!" he instructed, noticing one car crash into another and spiral out of control, breaking the already irregular formation. They barely made it out, by crawling through the metal pole's of the protective gate.

"Let's get far away from here" insisted Phoenix, trembling slightly.

"Agreed dudette" said Mudbud, as they ran along a path that led to another attraction in this carnival of the damned.

* * *

They hadn't gotten far when they came across a swan ride.

"Let's hide in this ride, ghost's hate water" panted Mudbud. "Then again, so do I".

"What, where'd you hear that?" questioned Phoenix.

"No wait, that's witches that hate water; ghost's hate light" he suddenly remembered. "But I ain't no witch, I just hate getting wet".

Another swan boat made it's way to the platform and Mudbud and Phoenix stepped forward, preparing to get inside. Instead of being greeted with the happy music that always plays in these rides, they were stunned when the metal head of the swan began rotating.

It turned to face them and the two were horrified at this chilling sight.

Black ink, originating from the eye's, flooded down the face and it's lipstick had been smothered all around the metal head. It's beak had been stretched and torn apart.

Phoenix let out a scream and hid behind Mudbud, as the phantom emerged from the seat, cackling.

"I'm curious as to what your plan was for _after_ you finish the ride," cackled the spectre, taking a step out of the boat.

"Get away from us!" shouted Mudbud.

"No it is _you_ who must get away" rebuked the phantom. "Phoenix return to the wood's, do not betray your brethren for this filthy mutt, return to the wood's and your leader will return; you will live a normal life".

"Oh yeah well...you look like...Darth Vader" Mudbud 'insulted' him back.

"That's not funny"

"Dude, the dude who's being insulted is not the dude who's gonna laugh cause he's the dude being insulted by the dude doing the laughing" riddled Mudbud.

"...That makes no sense" Dark Anthem struggled to get his his head wrapped around that one. "That's a lot of 'dudes'...oh I get it now".

In this confusion, the two had slipped away from him, they were running out through the same hole they entered from. Anthem sped after them, but the sun was beginning to rise.

"Hurry!" cried Phoenix, seeing the phantom charging behind him.

Mudbud ran out, just as the sun rose and Anthem was about to grab his tail. He vanished and all that remained was black mist, surrounding the area he was standing.

* * *

Later, by the park, Phoenix instructed Mudbud to wait outside as she prepared to head back. She came out moments later with something for him. A rare purple flower.

"Wow-za's this flower is incredible!" stated Mudbud.

"Yep it's incredibly rare, consider it a little thank you present" agreed Phoenix. "You can keep it, basically".

"Thanks".

"So you and your sibling's are going today right? You'll get to see the medicine making process yourself".

"Definitely it sounds rad, we'll see you there" promised Mudbud.

* * *

Blaze and the others were standing in an alley, clueless and surrounded by a terrible smell. On top of that it was raining heavily on all of them.

"Well..." began Blaze, cursing.

"Amazing find, Blaze, the weather's even worse than before" Lark sarcastically said.


	7. This is how we make it

Dennis looked everywhere but he couldn't find the Buddies anywhere. Finally, he decided to tell their parents. He found Buddy outside Noah's house with his mate, Molly.

"Dennis we didn't expect to see you here" greeted a surprised Buddy. "How are you anyway?"

"I'm afraid there's no time to catch up" said Dennis, gravely. "Your puppies are in great danger"

"What?!" cried a worried Molly.

Dennis told them the story about the cats as well as everything Blaze told him about what happened that night.

"So you think their going to sacrifice them!?" panicked Buddy.

"If they were nice to them, it was clearly an attempt trick them and they've fallen into Abzak's trap" said Dennis.

"I'm going after them!" declared Air bud.

"No!" Dennis stopped him. "There's too many of them and their dangerous. Molly can you go get Deputy Sniffer, we're going to need his help. Spot and the other's know the way we'll need their help". Molly rushed off.

"I haven't spoken to Spot in ages but I'll do anything to save my pups" said Buddy.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Buddies were walking through the new area of the woods, which wasn't so new anymore and looked around.

"So what now?" wondered Rosebud, who was wearing a light blue necklace.

"Another new necklace, Rosebud?" noticed Buddha.

"Yep, I think it's totally fetch don't you?" asked Rosebud.

"Fo'shizzle dawg...er I mean sis" replied B-dawg. "Wow i didn't realise how much my bling glows when the moon shines on it".

"I'd choose blue over pink any day" added Mudbud.

"Boy's and pink don't go" sighed the female pup.

"It seems as though nature has led us in the right course as I see smoke in the distance, must be their camp" assumed Buddha.

"Alright this medicine making thing sounds totally rad!" hyped Mudbud.

"So it's soutta like a party?" wondered Budderball. "Awesome I hope they have party food!"

"Budderball be polite, don't beg them for food we must respect and understand their way of life" advised Buddha.

"Alright dawg's lets follow that smoke" said B-dawg. He was still a bit nervous of the cats because of that movie but he was feeling a bit better about it than he did yesterday, thanks to Midnight.

When they arrived they were greeted by Abzak, Gust and Loom.

"Ah so you decided to return, welcome back" greeted Abzak.

"And please accept my apologies for being nosy yesterday" Gust apologized to Mudbud, hiding a grin.

"No problem-o dude" accepted the dirty pup.

"Hey Rosebud you look more pretty with that new necklace" complimented Loom.

Abzak led them to the crashed truck and instructed them to wait there.

"Sorry we weren't expecting you to come so early, please wait here until we've finished preparing".

"See B-dawg, he's just a nice old cat" Buddha told his scared brother. "You shouldn't judge someone by the way they look".

"Yeah I knew that dawg it's just those scars kinda give me the creeps" lied B-dawg.

"Where's Phoenix?" wondered Mudbud.

"Didn't Abzak say the younger cats were asleep? Why, you miss her?" asked Rosebud.

"Well she is the reason I'm not still sick and the reason we got back home" he reminded them.

* * *

Buddy and Dennis arrived at the park where Blaze was briefing his "troops". Buddy began getting nervous when he noticed Spot.

"Syndero you are needed here" said Blaze.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Because one: we'll probably figure out the cat mystery a lot sooner. Two: Dennis requested you for some reason and three because I said so!"

"Did he now?" repeated Syndero, glaring at Dennis.

"Blaze! The Buddies are in danger!" he panted.

"Will that be all, I'm sought of in the middle of a grand scheme?" asked Blaze, impatiently.

"The cat's have kidnapped them!" interrupted Buddy.

Sniffer and Molly then arrived.

"Nope! Uh-uh no way am I going back there! No way!" refused Syndero.

"Please they might hurt my pups!" begged Molly.

"Lady if we go back their gonna hurt us!" replied Syndero.

"Syndero, you coward puppies are in trouble and you insist on doing nothing!" scolded Blaze.

"It's called trying not to die" corrected Syndero. "Besides the pups said their nice".

"But that's just what they want them to think!" retorted Dennis.

"Come on do it in the name of the law" pleaded Sniffer.

Buddy then asked Spot to help and, after much hesitation, he agreed.

"Well I suppose I can't just sit here while puppies are in danger" sighed Lark.

"Ok my group is in" affirmed Blaze.

"Group? I ain't part of your gang of lunatics!" yelled Syndero. They all glared at him. "But...Ok fine but when I die you stay away from my funeral."

The eight dogs ran of into the forest, on a mission to save the Buddies.

* * *

After 10 minutes B-dawg started to get bored.

"Oh come on this is taking forever!" he whined. "I'm gonna go take a look".

"B-dawg wait!" cried Buddha. But it was to late B-dawg had run out the truck.

"Lets go reel him in before he breaks something" moaned Rosebud. The Buddies followed their troublesome brother outside.

"Yo dawg's over here" whispered B-dawg. He had found a crashed truck which was stuck in a pond. There was lights coming from it. Inside was Abzak and the other elders talking in the back of the truck.

"B-dawg this is an invasion of privacy" Buddha told him off.

"We need to go back and wait!" hissed Rosebud.

"Shh I can hear them talking about us" retorted B-dawg.

"The cage is just being reinforced with strong branches we've never sacrificed dogs before" said Drest, the Himalayan cat.

"For ten years we have been cursed to these woods, no more!" declared Abzak. "This is a sign. Dark Anthem was right, with the sacrifice of puppies we will finally resurrect Abcat so we may rule the alleyways of Oakfield and rule the town's cats!" The others cheered.

"I knew it w-we're gonna be sacrificed!" yelped B-dawg.

"I thought they were nice. What does this have to do with medicine" questioned Rosebud.

"Those foolish cats of Oakfield who tried stopping us will soon be dealt with" vowed the Burmese cat, Felix. "Good thing I jabbed my claws at that driver otherwise we would be in a whole other state"

"Hey don't take all the credit I helped!" added a Siamese cat.

"Shh we don't want to wake the younger cat's!" hissed Drest. "They weren't born during the attack and do not know about what happened. If they are to continue following us, they must believe we are giving the strays we bring in medicine and sending them to a loving home in Oakfield".

"Er, hang on I thought these cats were framed for a crime and sent away but now I'm starting to think THOSE cats were good and these are the bad ones" realised Budderball.

"All except one young cat who I've taught quite a bit" revealed Abzak.

"That's not cool, they've been lying to Phoenix and the others" said Mudbud. "We got to set them free".

"Mudbud's right, we need to get Deputy Sniffer, lets go quickly" Rosebud quickly agreed. They were now terrified and wanted to quickly leave before they were caught.

"See I told you dawgs this was a bad idea" stated B-dawg.

"Now's not the time for rubbing it in our faces we need to go, quickly" Buddha told his brother.

But Loom, who was outside, already saw them and secretly followed them with a few black and greyish cats.

* * *

Sniffer and the others were running through the woods, being led by Blaze. "Follow me, this path has no wolves" he said. "Remain stealthy like a ninja, a secret spy, like Captain Megasis-

"Ok we get it you want to be a good leader!" snapped Lark.

"Which way now?" asked Sniffer. "My nose can smell smoke nearby".

"So let me get this straight, when the cop's can't do their jobs they rely on random dog's to help them" laughed Syndero.

"Because you've been here before and know the way!" defended the blood hound.

"So the smoke is where their camp is?" asked Molly. Blaze and Spot nodded.

"Quickly, we must hurry, I'm not letting those cats touch those pups" vowed Spot.

"Thanks Spot for coming a long" thanked Buddy. Spot smiled back at him.

"Remain cautious, this is going to be dangerous" warned Dennis. "I've been trapped by them before so I should know".

"Dangerous?Oh great, I knew I was gonna die" groaned Syndero.

"Don't talk like that Syndero for I have a plan" revealed Blaze.

"Like I said _we're_ all gonna die" muttered the hound.


	8. All good things end

The Buddies looked around and spotted a small area, the adults had created for the younger cats to sleep in.

"Psst Phoenix" whispered Mudbud. The female cat woke up and came over to them.

"Yo girl we got an urgent 911!" cried B-dawg.

"What he means to say is, your elders have been lying to you they don't help the cats you bring in, they sacrifice them to this Abcat guy" explained Rosebud.

"What are you guys- but Phoenix was cut off by the entry of Abzak and several black and grey cats surrounding the area, making everyone wake up.

"Phoenix you can drop the act, they know" said the Siamese cat.

"Act?" questioned Buddha.

"I'm sorry we kept this a secret from you for so long" Abzak turned to the others. "You see all the cats of Fernfield are spies for Oakfield, who were trying to harm you, we had choice but to throw them into the fire to save you. Dark Anthem was correct, the time of Abcat's return is upon us, we just need to do away with these spies, who have chased us up trees and tormented us for so long!" This seemed understandable to the others, except for Luna and Phoenix.

"Phoenix well done for bringing these spies to justice and luring Anthem to that thing" praised Abzak. "How did he not know that we sent you out that night".

"What?" gasped Mudbud. "You were just trying to get us trapped here weren't you?! I could've been killed by that ghost dude!"

"Yo not cool" added B-dawg.

"But I didn't know that...I mean I did but-

"Don't explain yourself to these mindless dogs" ordered Gust.

"I thought you were our friend but it turns out you're just another selfish cat who only thinks about herself" Mudbud insulted her, frustratingly.

"What? I didn't know the cats I bought- she didn't know how to reply, she had done the deed, yes, but she had no idea what became of the cats she bought back. Abzak did send her to "explore" the town with the Buddies, hoping Anthem would get them all but it backfired when Phoenix became friends with Mudbud, so the phantom attempted to make her go back to the woods before she spills anything.

"You lied to us?" shivered one small, orange kitten.

"No we just thought...er" Abzak was struggling to make up an excuse.

"We just thought you were to young to view such events" Gust interrupted.

"Not to mention the flames were dangerous" added Loom.

"But how's this, considering the time we all will go home is upon us, tonight you will see the sacrifice of these evil spies as a message to dogs that we've had enough of them chasing us?" offered the sly leader. The others cheered. "Take them away!"

Phoenix was overcome by guilt. She had so much evil and caused so much pain. _How could I be so dumb and clueless?"_

"Phoenix you have bought Abcat a great gift I'm sure he'll be grateful" congratulated Abzak.

"I...can't believe I cause so many cats to..." Phoenix gasped, horrified by this revelation.

The guard cats herded the Buddies towards a large rock.

"We're doomed!" yelled B-dawg.

* * *

The adult dogs made it to the camp, where they were surprised to see it empty. All except for one Pig who seemed to have gotten lost after venturing out of the farm. Sniffer was asking her for help.

"As you can tell, this mission is very important to us, especially me so that everyone will like me more" explained the Labrador.

"Iway arecay otnay orfay ouryay attemptsway atway eingbay elevantray, utbay Iway avehay eensay ethay uppiespay ouyay eakspay, I'llway elltay ouyay ifway ouyay elltay emay owhay otay etgay omehay" she replied in Pig Latin.

"Filthy swine" muttered Syndero.

"Thank you for your advice, wise pig" Blaze thanked, pretending he knew what she was on about. He turned to the others and whispered "What did she say?"

"She said she'll tell us where the Buddies are if we tell her how to get home!" translated Molly, who knew Pig Latin (she was the one who taught Rosebud).

"I believe she also called you irrelevant" added Lark, who could also speak it well.

"I will help you get home, now tell us where the pup's are" promised Sniffer.

"Iway awsay aryscay atscay erdinghay emthay upway away igbay ockray, andway ereway ightinglay away irefay, eythay ookedlay awfullyway aredscay" replied the pig.

"She said the Buddies have been herded up to a rock where there's a fire!" panicked Molly.

"And also they looked scared" whispered Lark.

"Great, now what, you gonna ask her for more details?" asked Syndero, sarcastically.

"We have to move quickly!" exclaimed Buddy.

"Easy, follow Blaze's plan" Dennis advised his friend.

"Ouyay ouldway ebay away oolfay orfay ollowingfay isthay idiot'sway ansplay!" cried the pig.

"Thank you once again for your wisdom, kind pig" thanked Blaze, unaware of her insults, as they all ran off. Sniffer remained behind to quickly explain to her how to get home.

"Um, she said we would be fools for following an idiot like you" Lark told him.

"Nonsense, your obviously translating it wrong" dismissed the Labrador.

* * *

On a high rock that was connected to the ground through a path going upwards, the Buddies stood right at the edge, surrounded by Abzak, Gust and Loom. Beside them was a small stray kitten that Phoenix lured in. B-dawg, who usually enjoys chasing cats, was to scared to do so.

"Yo whats up little cat?" he greeted.

"Its ok we wont chase you" assured Rosebud. "Were the Buddies, who are you?"

"I'm Lily" she introduced herself. "Are you strays to? Don't worry, once the cats give us medicine to protect us from diseases we can have a nice happy home in Oakfield".

"Sorry dudette but this isn't a waiting are their gonna sacrifice us to their dead leader" revealed Mudbud.

"What!?" Lily cried.

"Is it just me or is it really hot up here?" panted Budderball, sweating.

"It's supposed to be the middle of winter, now that's what I call false advertising" sweated B-dawg.

"Its the fire below it's making us feel hot" realised Buddha.

"Aw man I think I prefer that phantoms ice bombs to this" admitted B-dawg.

"Hey look i can see mum and dad!" cried a relieved Rosebud. The others looked to the crashed truck where Buddy, Molly, Blaze and Spot were waiting. They then noticed Dennis and Sniffer hiding in the pond, which would be the escape route. Lark and Syndero were going to create a diversion.

"Quiet we don't want to blow their cover" whispered Buddha. "Excuse me, Abzak sir, can we ask you one question".

Abzak nodded and allowed him to ask. "Where did you ever get such nonsensical idea that if ypu sacrifice cats you will bring back your leader".

"Yeah I don't think even Yuri was that crazy" added Rosebud.

"Well since we're sacrificing you anyway allow me to explain" began Abzak. "You see it was just after we got into a brawl with other cats and animal control captured us. We were being shipped to another state so we attacked the driver...

 _The driver lost control of the wheel and quickly jumped out of the door and ran as fast as he could, while the truck crashed into the forest, below the highway. It was thundering down and it was pitch black. Loom and the Siamese cat asked their leader to look around and Abzak agreed. He got out the car and began blindly running, so he could quickly look around and get back in the dry truck. "HELLO ANYONE HERE?! HELP!" he called out, hoping someone would hear his pleas. He kept on running until he slipped on the muddy ground and fell down a small hill. He got up and saw tall trees in front of him. However soon he heard a voice. "I have been waiting for you" it said. In front of him was a dark, barely visible figure, camouflaging himself into the dark background. A black cape could be seen flowing against the wind._

 _"Who are you?" Abzak demanded._

 _"I was visiting this state, Washington, so I could find something" explained the alien, pronouncing "Washington" incorrectly. "I believe I can help you reclaim the alley's your were expelled from but it will take some time. Your leader, who has passed away can help"._

 _"Abcat? But he's.. began the cat before the figure interrupted him._

 _"The Ancient legends say if you can sacrifice enough of the same species as the one your trying to bring back, he or she will return. All you need to do is do it in a forest, such as this one. I suggest training the newborn kitten's into luring these cat's from the town next to this, Fernfield"._

 _"What do you want in return?"_

 _"Only that you resurrect my old friend Abcat" lied the figure, pretending he knew their dead leader._

"Recently, a person called Dark Anthem visited me and told me of something that would speed things up" continued Abzak.

 _"Try to get puppies in particular, Abcat will appreciate the sacrifice of those who always chase his kind" urged Anthem, of course pronouncing "puppies" wrong too. His genius plan was to make the cat's go after the Buddies, who had ruined his plans by defeating Death in Dino buddies. However all he knew about them was that they lived in Fernfield but he didn't know what animals they were. At first he thought they were cats so he wanted Abzak to go through as many cats as possible until they got the Air buddies!_

 _Of course, after seeing the Buddies in the woods he decided to use Phoenix to lure them out, starting with Mudbud._

After Abzak finished his story, the Buddies and Lily didn't know what to say.

"Wow that sounds difficult to believe" said Rosebud.

"Like there is good there is also evil that can corrupt your minds" Buddha told his siblings. "You can't believe in these lies you all have a mind of your own".

"Yeah sounds like this guy is straight up trippin" added B-dawg.

"Nonsense he is the only one who has helped us so far this is our destiny!" rejected the leader. He then walked down the rock to talk to Drest and the Siamese cat, who were watching over the others.


	9. Failed checkmate

Syndero and Lark prepared to create a diversion.

"See I knew I was gonna die" groaned the hound.

"Don't worry these cats won't know what hit them, follow my lead" assured Lark. "I can see the puppies above the fire it looks as if their about to be sacrificed time to put Blaze's plan into action!".

"He really needs to stop reading those Captain Canine comics" sighed Syndero. The hound charged into the camp and straight into two opened crates of food that fell out of the truck when it crashed.

"I said wait for me you fool!" yelled Lark, following him. "Bet you thought you scared us of!"

"GET OUT OF HERE DOGS YOU AND YOUR STUPID SHARP TEETH DON'T BELONG HERE!" yelled Gust, who had quite enough of these doggy intrusions. "I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE MINDLESS, STINKY, TOILET DRINKING DOG'S!"

"Well why don't you come here and see how stupid they are?" challenged Syndero. The cats began chasing them.

"Were under attack get ready to defend!" ordered the Siamese cat.

Buddy, Molly,Spot and Blaze crept towards the cats "bedroom" and waited for a signal. Sniffer and Dennis waited next to the pond, which was the escape route. The bloodhound howled after the younger cats were ordered to run, led by Felix. The four dogs ran up the rock. Loom and the Himalayan cat jumped Spot and Blaze.

"Buddies run!" shouted Air bud. The Buddies and the kitten ran of the rock. The cats and dogs then began chasing one another with lots of failures. Syndero tried chasing two cats up a tree but they just threw apples at him. Lark and the others chased the cats throughout several bushes, but just got lost and even ended up attacking each other.

"Ow you fool!" screamed Syndero, as Lark scratched him. "Get your claws and your face out of my face!"

"Sorry, thought you were them"

Blaze attempted to throw Loom of his back but ended up falling of the rock.

"I bet this never happened to Captain Canine!" he wailed.

Lark, the cats, the Buddies and Syndero began running from each other through the bushes, failing to catch one another.

* * *

Meanwhile, the younger cats with Felix were taken to a nearby cave.

"Do not fear Abcat will save us!" Felix tried calming them down. But Phoenix and Luna didn't believe this.

"Felix, sir, I don't think having our leader back justifies sacrificing the lives of so many innocent young animal's" Luna spoke up.

"What? Those dogs have led others here they need to pay!" Felix retorted.

"But that's only because we bought them here the Buddies have treated us fairly and nicely unlike other dogs who would have chased us up a tree" Phoenix told him.

A few other cats agreed while the rest didn't know what to say. After a while Felix said "What do you mean 'we' bought them here? You spotted them first and told the rest of us just like you lured so many cat's here; you are one of our top spies, so there is no way your not jumping out of the plane with the rest of the us!"

"What plane?" said a confused cat.

"Its an expression!"

Phoenix cried, knowing what he was saying was all right, but she didn't know what would really happen to the stray's she bought here. But she couldn't let Mudbud and the other's be captured and thrown into the fire by Abzak.

* * *

The Buddies looked around for Lily but couldn't see her.

"Dudes wheres Lily!" noticed Mudbud.

"Maybe she made it out" hoped Budderball.

"I hope we are also as lucky because we'v got company" said Buddha spotting the Siamese cat and two black cats approaching them.

"Aw man it just doesn't stop!" whined B-dawg. "RUN!"

As the Buddies ran Mudbud stopped and saw Lily being captured by Abzak and heading back up the rock. "Hold on dudette i'm coming" Mudbud announced, running after them. The other Buddies hid inside the truck as the cats surrounded it.

"Ha how are you gonna get out this time?" laughed the Siamese cat.

"I hate to say it but he's right!" wailed Rosebud.

"Remember what Talon said sometimes life leads you where you least expect" remembered Buddha, as that gave him an idea. "Cover your noses everyone!".

He went to Budderball and pulled his paw, causing him to let out a stinky fart.

The cats shrieked and jumped into the pond.

"HELP I CANT SWIM!"screamed the Siamese cat.

"Aw sick!" complained B-dawg.

"Aw shucks" Budderball blushed out of embarrassment.

"Well at least it got us out of a jam" Buddha tried to stay positive, as usual.

"That's good but lets get out of this stinky truck!" said Rosebud, jumping out through the smashed window.

Syndero, Blaze and Spot were surrounded by the Loom and the other cats.

"Oh boy we're doomed" declared Syndero.

"You will all die in cast" laughed Loom.

"I've always wondered what that meant" said Syndero.

"The cast to die" repeated Loom. Syndero nodded to Blaze, now understanding what that saying meant.

"You mean die a hero's death" Blaze proclaimed.

"Unfortunately we would probably be viewed as the bad guys for trespassing and attacking weaker species so no being a hero for you, Blaze" whispered Spot.

"I'm a hero everyone, a hero! History will vindicate me!" yelled Blaze. Spot then noticed Gust near the fire about to scratch Air bud, who was helping his mate up.

"Buddy, watch out!" he yelled. The dalmatian dodged Loom and went in front of Buddy, taking the scratch from Gust instead. He quickly kicked the black cat into the flames.

"Spot you saved my life, thank you" thanked a grateful Air bud.


	10. Don't go

Felix looked over to Phoenix who still looked upset.

"Look i'm sorry, Phoenix, I didn't mean to make you upset I was just angry" apologised Felix, before he went to the front of the cave to think.

"Luna I can't let the Buddies join the other stray's i'm going to help them" she whispered to Luna.

"I'm going with you no way am I letting my new BF's down" said Luna.

"It's gonna be dangerous I think you should stay".

"Have I ever listened to you before?"

Phoenix smiled at her friend and the two ran back to the camp.

"Sir should we stop them they could get hurt?" Midnight asked Felix.

"No let them go" said Felix before deciding something. "Midnight I've told you the way to Oakfield you know the way well right?"

"Know it of by heart" replied the female cat.

"Good now listen take all of these cats and go back there tell the cat's in the alley that we sent you back to live like them. They wont harm you as you weren't with us when it all happened" instructed Felix. "Hopefully, they will be kind enough to offer a bit of a empathy to you and take you in".

"Are you sure? What about you?"

"Yes that is an order! All cats follow Midnight!" ordered Felix.

As the others scrambled, Felix remained sat with his head down.

* * *

Mudbud ran up the rock. "Quick Lily run!" he told the kitten. When Abzak turned around, Lily ran as fast as she could but the tough leader grabbed her and put her at the edge of the rock.

"Dude why are you doing this you know your leader will never come back?" said Mudbud.

"Because this is the only way we can return to our lives as you can already tell we are not pets we have no owners to play with! Phoenix and the other young cats dream of being like normal pets but that won't happen all that matters is my vision!" yelled the enraged Abzak. Mudbud tried arguing with him but Abzak would hear none of it.

"A puppy is also needed for this ritual" remembered Abzak. He began chasing Mudbud around the rock while Lily was at the edge, she was too petrified to move.

Rosebud and Budderball, meanwhile, where being chased by the Drest. He finally caught them near some trees.

"I'v got you cornered!" he praised himself. Suddenly a few apples hit him on the head. It was Luna, she jumped of the tree and joined them.

"Hey BF its time for you pups to go home" she told Rosebud.

"Thanks Luna" smiled Rosebud.

Back on the rock, Abzak charged towards Mudbud but Phoenix got in the way causing her to be scratched by his sharp claws. Loom and Drest ran up to join help Abzak.

"OW!" she shrieked. Abzak backed of a bit.

"Phoenix are you ok?" asked the worried puppy.

"I...i'm fine" she panted. Dark Anthem teleported to a nearby hill and took our his blaster. He shot at the rock causing it to begin cracking. Abzak looked up and saw the silhouette of the shadowy alien.

"Phoenix, you are my greatest student, i'll let you sacrifice these two and you can finally live like a normal pet like you always wanted" Abzak told her.

"I'm sorry, Abzak, but I have already caused too many lives to be lost i'm not going do it again!" she rejected.

"WHAT? TREASON!" screamed the fierce cat. "I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

Abzak rushed towards Lily and prepared to throw her in. He was unaware that the edge of the rock, where he was standing, was also cracking.

"I need to go help that kitten, Mudbud you stay here in case the rock cracks" instructed Phoenix.

"Wait, dudette, say if the rock cracks your'll fall into the fire" realised Mudbud.

"Either way, at least my conscious will be clear" she replied. Her guilty conscious was beginning effect her.

"But you didn't know what was happening!" he tried convincing her.

"I just want to say one thing" the tiger cat began. "Thank you for showing me how to be a normal pet and I hope you and your siblings make it out".

She ran towards the helpless kitten followed by Abzak. "EXTINCTION TO ALL TRAITORS!" he yelled. Unknown to him, the spy bug which Anthem attached to his spiked collar when he appeared to him, was still active and Anthem was watching. Phoenix protected Lily and Mudbud ran after his friend. Dark Anthem appeared on the hill top above and targeted the rock with his blaster. Firing, his blasts also shot a tree standing nearby which fell and collided with the crumbling rock.

The tree dangled down the edge of the rock and Abzak, Lily and Phoenix were desperately trying to climb up as it began falling. Mudbud quickly ran towards the edge and tried grabbing Phoenix. Lily was being pulled down by Abzak, who grabbed her by the leg. Phoenix began going lower, instead of heading up, to help the poor kitten.

"Hold on, I got you" promised Phoenix, grabbing Lily by her paw.

Abzak and Drest began climbing up, heading right behind them.

"How did this happen?" Abzak asked himself. "But Abcat was supposed to return but did...maybe Anthem was...

Abzak then began thinking that maybe the evil alien was manipulating him all this time and wanted this to happen. For Anthem- Drex's commander, missing in action- he didn't care about the cats or the humans or even how much animals were killed. He just wanted the Air Buddies gone so he could exact his revenge for what they caused by defeating the shadowy phantom in Dino buddies. Realising everything was a lie, Abzak let go of the tree and fell into the flames below.

Drest paid no attention and continued advancing.

"Don't worry, Phoenix I'll help you" Mudbud assured her.

"Mudbud forget about me run the rock is collapsing!" demanded the female cat.

"Dudette have you gone crazy? I can't let you fall!" he disagreed.

"Listen I can never escape from the thought that I caused lots of pain but I can at least try to save you all...let go" Phoenix begged him.

"Phoenix are you crazy, quickly climb up I can get get you out of here!" pleaded Mudbud.

She looked two inches beneath her to see the angry Himalayan cat ready to attack.

"Hold on" she instructed Lily, placing her paw onto the trunk. She then let go and began falling, striking her claws into the evil Drest, who fell down as well.

"Ahhh!" he wailed as he bashed his head against the branches and fell into Loom. Mudbud quickly pulled Lily up.

Dark Anthem teleported to a nearby cliff to watch. Mudbud lay down and watched the poor cat fall into the flames and remembering what he had said to her about being no better than Abzak. Anthem, instead of feeling happy, was shocked at what he was seeing. A few tears came out of Mudbud's guilty eyes and Anthem looked over to the upset puppy.

"Its a pity the puppies are still alive but...I leave knowing at least I achieved some victory" he cackled before vanishing. Mudbud didn't move as the rock was cracking but he could hear the voices of the others. The cats all fled.

"Wheres Mudbud?" asked Molly.

"Ah it scratched my eye!" screamed Syndero.

"Dawg's, there he is on the rock it looks like its breaking!" noticed B-dawg.

"We need to go get him!" panicked Buddy.

"Go on then!" retorted the hound.

"I''ll go save him" offered Blaze.

"Wait for the police!" said Sniffer. "DON'T WORRY MUDBUD WERE COMING!"

* * *

The next morning, the Buddies were enjoying themselves playing happily, like puppies should be, in the park. Dennis was, surprisingly, playing with them. Budderball, Buddha, Rosebud and B-dawg were playing football while Spot was talking to Buddy and Molly. It seemed like the Dalmatian and the sports playing dog had decided to mend their severed friendship. As for Blaze, after hearing about what happened, everyone was finally treating him like the hero he always wanted to be. "I told you one day it would happen" he told Syndero.

"Yo check it, Spot and dad are friend's again!" spotted B-dawg.

"Their like BFF'S" laughed Rosebud. "I hope my new BF, Luna, is ok".

"Well who's up for another match?" asked an enthusiastic Dennis. The Buddies barked in excitement and continued playing. Lark and Syndero were standing next to the entrance of the woods. Out of respect for the cats and the stray's that had died there, Deputy Sniffer told all of the animals in Fernfield that the "new area" of the woods was condemned.

"I'm glad this ordeal is finally over" recapped Lark.

"Yeah whatever" ignored the hound.

"Too bad we couldn't help the cats too" sighed the English Mastiff.

"I er...hope they made it back to Oakfield" admitted Syndero. "They deserve to live normally, like us".

Rosebud kicked the football past Budderball and it went in the goal. "GOOOOAAAAALLLL!" she yelled, sliding on the grass. "Huh?"

She then noticed Mudbud laying by himself next to a tree. He looked sad.

"Hey Buddha I think we should go talk to Mudbud, he still seems upset" suggested Rosebud.

"I concur" agreed the Zen pup. They went over to him. Mudbud still had the pretty flower Phoenix gave him in his mouth. He placed it on the rock beside him.

"Hey Mudbud are you still sad about Phoenix?" asked Rosebud, although she already knew the answer. Mudbud didn't reply.

"She had a conscious, like all of us, and when she did something bad she couldn't live with herself but i'm sure she didn't want you to be sad" explained the wise Buddha.

"But she just wanted to be like a normal pet...they all did" sulked the dirty puppy. "She trusted me to help her live like us and I just said a lot of bad things to her that I wish I could take back".

"I know Mudbud don't worry i'm sure they all returned to Oakfield, safely" Rosebud assured him. "Hey I think I see some fresh dirt over by the goal!".

"Yeah come on let's get you back in to your usual self" added Buddha.

After a few seconds, Mudbud got up and replied "Alright dude that sounds like a gnarly idea!"

The three puppies ran to the others and they all played football together, cheering Mudbud up.

On the rock the flower Phoenix gave Mudbud was still there, laying in the position he had placed it and while they were playing the puppies couldn't help but to stare and smile at the gift.

 **The end**

 **(Yeah I know the ending is kinda sad)**


	11. Epilogue

B-dawg sat just outside the sign that said "Welcome to Fernfield" looking at the highway, strangely missing his bling. Beside him was the black cat, Midnight, who was telling him everything that happened. Mudbud soon joined them.

"That was nice of those dawg's...I mean cat's...to let you stay" said B-dawg.

"Yep, most of us have found homes now" she replied. "I'm still in the market though".

"Hey dude...and dudette" greeted Mudbud in his usual way. "Sorry, bro, still no sign of your bling".

"Aw nuts!" cursed B-dawg.

"Something wrong?" asked Midnight.

"Yeah, it's my bling, it's been stolen by some crooks!" he explained, upset.

A familiar looking jeep drove past, it's drivers were none other than Denning, Selkirk Tander's employee, and his idiot companion, Grim.

"Hey how much do you think this bling is worth?" asked Denning.

"The bling of an Air bud puppy? Probably a lot!" cried Grim.

"They stole my bling!" realised B-dawg, preparing to chase the car out of Fernfield.

"B-dawg, don't" warned Mudbud. But it was to late, the rebellious pup ran out into the highway after the jeep.

Mudbud sighed. "Here we go again" he muttered.

"Looks like you lot have another adventure" joked Midnight.

"Looks like it" replied Mudbud. "Wait up bro!"

Mudbud chased after his brother as the two left for yet another crazy day, as Midnight watched them.


End file.
